5️⃣ big WSL transfer window stories as Tottenham and Villa impress | OneFootball

The transfer window is closed but there was so much interesting WSL business done that we just had to recap the most interesting stories from across the league …

Tottenham break WSL record

For a few seasons now, Tottenham have struggled for a regular source of goals. So they added Bethany England for a WSL record £250k fee.

The 2020 WSL Player of the Year netted 42 goals in 86 league appearances for Chelsea and has 11 in 21 for the Lionesses too, so it was no surprise to see her mark her Tottenham debut and then another in the FA Cup last week.

That FA Cup game also saw Mana Iwabuchi, who has arrived from Arsenal and will be tasked with adding creativity, get off the mark. It looks like Spurs may have solved their biggest issue.

Arsenal fail in striker hunt as Man Utd strengthen

Arsenal signed midfielders Kathrine Kühl and Victoria Pelova, but it was a forward Jonas Eidevall really wanted with Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead both out for the rest of the season. The closest he came was the decision to recall Gio Queiroz from her Everton loan spell.

Debinha and Cloe Lacasse were targeted, then Alessia Russo and Signe Bruun as the deadline approached.

A women’s record bid reportedly worth over £500k went in for Russo, with Sky saying a player swap was also suggested, but was swiftly rejected. The Gunners will surely be back in for the striker soon with her Manchester United contract up in the summer but they badly wanted something now as they look to compete on four fronts.

It was a great month for Manchester United, who did not just keep Russo but added Estelle Cascarino on loan from PSG as well as Canada defender Jayde Riviere and Norwegian international midfielder Lisa Naalsund to strengthen their own title bid.

Aston Villa do impressive business

Having added Rachel Daly in the summer, two more England internationals arrived at Aston Villa in January.

Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth have started strongly for the Villains and their January WSL results — a win against Tottenham and a draw against Manchester City — looked very impressive.

Kenza Dali continues to impress and is now joined by real quality in midfield and, while the top four look uncatchable, Villa should back themselves to finish fifth and make a statement ahead of 2023-24.

Leicester and Brighton go big

Leicester sit bottom of the table as things stand and Brighton, albeit with games in hand and only by virtue of goal difference, are the side just above them.

So it’s little wonder they both made themselves busy last month.

Former Bayern Munich boss Jens Scheuer has replaced Hope Powell at Brighton, who signed five players in January with the focus on bolstering a leaky defence.

Issues at the both ends have been addressed by Leicester but firepower was the big question and they’ve managed to bring in Australian international forward Remy Siemsen from Sydney FC and striker Ruby Mace on loan from Manchester City. With goalkeeper Janina Leitzig already impressing too, the Foxes secured their first win (and first points) of the season to beat Brighton 3-0 just over two weeks ago.

The relegation battle just got interesting.

Katie McCabe bid

Like Russo, another huge talking point in the final days was a transfer that did not end up happening.

But where on Earth did a Chelsea bid for Arsenal’s Katie McCabe come from?!

We’ll have a keen eye on this over the summer.